A study of esoteric philosophy, and in a sense, but only a sense, religious thought, eastern, and western. A site meant to guide others in their own personal development through esoteric meanings of scriptures eastern and western, especially emphasizing the I Ching

Saturday, December 30, 2006

If we look at the commentary on hexagram twenty four in the third section of Wilhelm/Baynes book, we have the following:

“The hexagram of return, applied to character formation, contains various suggestions. The light principle returns, thus the hexagram counsels turning away from the confusion of external things, turning back to one’s inner light. There, in the depths of the soul, one sees the Divine, the One.”

This is what we have been talking about all along. The science of “Oneness.” By turning our attention inward, looking within, we find that light, so dim at first, but it gradually gets stronger as we spend time in prayer and meditation. The light is within, the Christ child is within. All we need to do is open up to it, to recognize it and realize it within ourselves. By turning inward, we come to realize that everything outside of us is simply a reflection of that which is within us. As above, so below, means as well, as within, so without. “For as a man thinketh within his heart, so is he.” (The book of Proverbs.)

Friday, December 29, 2006

Hexagram twenty four corresponds to the same time period as is traditionally prescribed to the birth of Christ. There is a reason for this, it is at the beginning of the Sun’s transiting into the sign of Capricorn that the Sun (Son) begins to rise again. The days get longer. The sign rises in the sky, in the sense of coming higher in the Northern Hemisphere. The significance of this is that in hexagram twenty four things start to change for the better, and with the birth of Christ, light is given to the nations. The Wilhelm/Baynes commentary says “The movement is natural, arising spontaneously.” In other words, it is not forced, it is a condition due to the times. As the sun rises up over the northern hemisphere, the earth is devoted and receptive to the movement.

As a rule, it is at the beginning of the new year that we make resolutions, resolving to do better and make amends in the new year. The judgment text says, “going out and coming in without error.” The old is over, it is time to start again, to start again on a higher level, This time comes after a time of decay as described in hexagram twenty three.

The time of return applies on both a physical and a spiritual level. For, in fact, the physical level is just a mirror image of the spiritual. Thus the saying, “as above, so below.” Supposedly, the birth of the Christ Child predawns a time of spiritual awakening. He brings us light, in a time of spiritual darkness. The world is immersed deeply into the belief in materialism, that consciousness is merely a phenomenon of material interaction. The Christ child, and the time of Return brings back the light and gives men new hope.

The text of hexagram twenty four says, “Friends come without blame.” When we return to the spiritual way, to the way that brings us light, we allow the entering of “meaningful guests,” in other words, spiritual and cosmic helpers that open our eyes to greater spiritual depths. These guests may be friends we are consciously aware of, or not consciously aware of. When we follow the spiritual path, there is a collapsing of the quantum wave that ultimately is for our good, though for a time it may not seem so. This does not necessarily happen quickly or exactly when we want, but sooner or later it will happen. (Confer with hexagram fifty line four, “But if he will only see to it that he is possessed of something truly spiritual, the time is bound to come, sooner or later, when the difficulties will be resolved, and all will be well.”) “For we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.:” St Paul. There is a big emphasis these days on books that teach that we can follow the heart and all will be provided for us. In a way this is true, but often people try to do this and end up broke and penniless, and totally discouraged. There is one factor that is often left out. We have to be doing the will of God, otherwise it doesn’t work, except in the sense that one may be doing jobs that we love. The universe will normally take care of us, providing we are doing what we are supposed to be doing. One cannot follow their every whim and expect to get rich, normally at least. One must be doing everything possible to know and understand the will of God.

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

You have to understand, it matters not, whether a hard nosed scientist, or a religious fanatic, or a delusional fool, they are all under a hypnotic trance created by the illusion of a created universe. I will say this, that though it is an illusion, it is a very real illusion, and if you jump off a building, that illusion will kill you, (which actually is an illusion in itself.) The illusion is created by God, (for want of a better word,) in his/her state of rest, creating movement. Movement imposes two limits, the limit of space, and the limit of time, for without space there can be no movement, where would the movement go? Likewise, without time, there can be no movement, it takes time to go from one place to another. So immediately a duality is imposed, the duality of rest versus movement, and the duality of space versus time. Within movement, there is a vibration. Movement is, in effect, a vibration. Once something is no longer at rest, it is vibrating. Things can vibrate at different rates, they can vibrate at different amplitudes, or different frequencies, or a combination of the two, and in so doing, various vibrations create various wave forms, which, in the process of coming together, create a material world. The thought that creates the vibration also creates the impetus for a collapse of the wave function into a material reality. In that sense, the world is real, but in another sense, it is only an illusion because all parts of that material reality are made of the same mind stuff. Therefore, all of us, droplets though we may be, in an infinite ocean, are ultimately that ocean, and it is all one. It is all from the same source, the source being God, or the one creator, or the one whom it is said, “And the word because flesh, (physical) and dwelt among us.” It is also said, “He was in the world, (had sacrificed himself to the material plane, the symbolic meaning of Jesus on the cross) and the world knew him not.” The world does not recognize the source behind material substance. It blindly and foolishly thinks that any consciousness is a result of the play of physical forces, putting the cart before the horse, rather than realizing and accepting that the material world is the result of consciousness. “I am in the Father, and the Father in me.” The Father is in the world, the thought that creates the world, and the world is in the Father, the cosmic Son of the Father, having been created by him. This concept is crucial to a deeper understanding of the I Ching, and indeed, all Eastern religion, or cosmology, as well as crucial to a metaphysical interpretation of Western religious documents.

Monday, December 25, 2006

There is much, much more to be said about the birth of Jesus, and I do admit, some of the symbology I still do not understand. A reckoning of all the accounts is somewhat in order here though, and for those who are strictly I Ching lovers, I will finish it off with a short discussion of hexagram twenty four, later that is.

Who knows why there were four specific gospels picked out of all the extant material? There is method in the madness, however. While there is no doubt the church edited the texts to make sure no one found the true deeper doctrine in it, nevertheless, planned or not planned, and I do think someone was watching out for us, there is a wealth of information in the gospels that survived the purges of the Church.

As it is we can look at the four gospels and get four viewpoints, or snapshots of Jesus as the Christ. In the gospel of Matthew Jesus is presented as royalty. As such the birth of a future or present king must be recorded with his royal lineage. In Matthew the royal lineage is recorded, and the birth of Jesus is delineated as that of a king. Notice in this gospel the ones who come are termed as Wise Men, or Magi, for it is only fitting that a king be visited by the Magi, rather than mere (the term mere here being used only for the sake of the argument, it is not intended to take anyone or any group of people lightly, only to make the point) shepherds. Notice also in Matthew there is an emphasis on the rule of Herod, the contemporary king of the Jews. More could be said on this, but lets move on. In the gospel of Mark, Jesus the Christ is portrayed as a servant. It was considered that a servant’s birth is of no accord, so there is no record in Mark of the birth of Jesus. The gospel of Luke portrays the manhood of Jesus. Jesus here is the Son of Man. A man has a birth and a birth is recorded here. In this gospel is recorded a lineage reflecting that of a mere man, not a king. In Luke’s gospel there is a great emphasis on the wonderfulness of the coming of the savior and there is an emphasis on the joy that his birth brings to man. “…To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, Through the tender mercy of oru God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace…” Little if anything is mentioned of Herod. Once again, more could be said of this, but let’s move on. John emphasizes the Godhood of Jesus. Not that he wasn’t man, not that he was the only true God, but “I and my Father are one,” and, “The Father is in me, and I am in the Father.” Since John is describing the Godhood of Jesus, there is no record of a physical birth, for God does not have a beginning. John does however describe a beginning. Not the beginning of a physical birth, but the beginning of the cosmos. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” We can think of this beginning as the beginning of the cosmos, the word being spoken, in other words a thought that creates a vibration that brings materiality into existence. The ultimate element of matter is not an atom, or an electron, or even a photon, not a quark, nor any other fundamental element, but is simply, a thought in the mind of God. Read up on the latest in quantum physics. Einstein had real problems with what quantum physics was relating. Regardless, though I am not a physicist, I can tell you from the testimony of those that are, that a wave does not become a physical element until someone or something observes it. At that point it is said that the wave collapse into reality. (See the recent book called, “The Visionary Window,” By Amit Goswami, PHD, for an excellent discussion on this.) John, in describing that original cosmic birth, goes on to say, “That was the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” That light is the effect of the original thought of the original cosmic vibration through which everything and every human was created. (For a deep and very interesting discussion on this, see the two volume, sixty dollar set by Paramahansa Yogananda called, “The second coming of Christ.”)

“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become Sons of God, even to them that believeth on his name.” (John, 1:16) He does not say “Sons of Men,” as we might see in other gospels, but Sons of God. In the gospel of John we see Jesus as having the ability and the power to enrich people by making them “Sons of God” This is “putting on the mind of Christ,” and has much in common as that which is in the Eastern doctrines of “developing the spiritual embryo.” The entire Gospel structure is created specifically to let people know how they may become “Christs,” and Joint heirs with Christ, not in the way the church teaches, but in reality, creating the “cosmic marriage between Jesus (as Christ) and Mary, (the term Mary comes from the same root as the English word, marine, or cosmic sea, ocean; in other words the “universal subconscious mind,) or between conscious and subconscious so that one becomes truly creator and co-creator with God. A fully aware and fully integrated human being, as described in the I Ching as the “Chuang Tzu.” Let’s finish this discussion for now. I hope in the future to put much more thought into my dialogues before I blog them so that they may be useful for more than just intellectual knowledge for the reader.

A belated happy holidays to all. I have once again been dragged down by lack of sleep and have not kept up with what I want to do. May you all have a joyous new year.

Though it is late, there are still a few things I want to discuss regarding the Christmas story, but I have a pre new years and a new years resolution to make. I never make them, if I did I wouldn't follow them, but these I think I can. First off, I am going to take a little more time on my articles before I put them on the web, so that when I write, it will be in good English and have good sentence structure, and a more coherent message. Second, I hope tomorrow to put a small, regular web page out there that will give me a lot more options, but mainly it will give pointers to different blogger websites that I hope to maintain. Third, I am going to try harder to set aside a specific time to do my tasks, rather than willy nilly whenever, and along with that, focus more on a couple things, to do them well, and not be off on every tangent. I can only do so much, and I need more sleep. Anything else I plan right now is a secret, even from myself. I don't know what my subconscious plans for next year.

Once again, happy holidays, and remember, God is love, or, if you prefer, the cosmos, the Sage, the Universal Subconscious mind is love. So love to all, It is by being equal to love that we become equal to God.

Friday, December 22, 2006

“Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof…” Matthew 2:16.

Herod had intended to deceive the wise men. He told them to return to him to bring him to the child that he may worship, while all the while secretly planning the demise of the child. Now, it turns out, the trickster has been tricked, and he became exceedingly angry. This, you can be sure, is how the ego works. It is always ready to deceive another, but cannot tolerate being deceived itself. It is not only the matter that the plot failed, although that was painful enough, but the ego had been outeggoed, outsmarted, that is. That is worse than having the plan fail, for it informs the ego that it is not master of its own destiny, it cannot control everything and everyone. That is what really stokes the raging fires of the egos anger, someone played the game better than he did. This is the basic nature of humanity. The ego cannot fail to be at war because it is at war with itself. As long as mankind is at war with himself, there will always be wars, rumors of wars, trickery, and deceit. The game of one-upmanship is more powerful, and more important to the ego than life itself. The ego cares not. It’s soul desire is to be top dog, king of the hill, to be, in other words, Herod, or Caesar. Even when a person reaches the top, they cannot stay there, and all most certainly know this, yet no one will give up the game. So we go to war, with our friends we play minor little psychological games, with those further away we play other types of games, all the way up to the level of nations, in which our games involve assault rifles, tanks, bombs and bombers, and even nuclear weapons. We never quit, we never give up, we always have to be top dog, and where does it get us?

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Back to the story of Herod, in Matthew chapter two verse eight… “Go, and search diligently for the young child, and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also” The surface level of this story is that Herod was not familiar enough with the ancient prophecies to find the child himself, but he knew the wise men, or Magi, could do it. So he uses the ploy of wanting to worship him in order to find him and end the threat to his rulership. The ego within us never wants to relinquish control, and it will use whatever ploy or deception to accomplish its purposes. But there is another story here that closely parallels that. It is also true that the ego will gladly worship anything outside of itself if that will help it maintain its power base. There is always a religion of choice that men can follow. And don’t think atheism isn’t a religion, it has its patron saints, etc. etc, so do political doctrines, like communism and capitalism, all based on the concept that man can do it all, with no help from any God or outside force. The same is true of science. It is just as much a religion as any church could ever be, with its doctrines of uniformitarianism, evolution, that consciousness evolves out of matter. And it has its patron saints, Darwin, Newton, Einstein, etc. It takes an act of congress to get any ideas through to a scientist that do not conform to what they have already, often mistakenly, established. The ego will always worship these things, because they are not only not a threat, but also give the ego a cover for its power base. In worshipping a god outside of ourselves, we give ourselves free reign to the ego to rule over us, and reject the God self or the Christ within.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

“Now the birth of Jesus was on this wise…” says the gospel of Matthew verse 18. But was it? The gospel of Luke gives a slightly different, but not totally incompatible account. And there is a great deal of scholarship these days which brings to question whether Jesus, as depicted in the gospels ever existed. Others say, ridiculous, there is too much evidence. Well, it depends on how much of the evidence one considers valid. It’s like that old argument, “what you say isn’t true. What is your source for that? My sources are better than your sources. Mine have college degrees. Yours do too? But not from Yale or Harvard! Well, this source says this, that one says that, did Jesus ever exist? And another thing. The story of the birth of Jesus, and indeed almost all of Jesus life can be found in Egyptian, Greek, and other mythologies. What is going on here? (One argument I personally like is that the Buddhists, some groups anyway, from places as far away as India claim to have records of having been visited by Jesus.) But ultimately, for the purposes of our discussions, it doesn’t matter, because it is the message, and I mean the spiritual message, not the letter, that is of consequence. The birth of Jesus is the birth of spiritual wisdom and understanding in our heart. If we believe that Jesus died for our sins, and he might have, but not in the traditional literal sort of way, then we are saying that there is a God, not only separate from us, but separate from his entire creation. My friends this cannot be true, for there is no separation, there is no God out there as opposed to us in here. The first and foremost metaphysical principle is that all is one. Therefore, God is not something outside of us, but something within us, and without too, but only as much as within. There is nothing out there as opposed to what is in here.

So the story must be symbolic. The birth of Jesus can be the birth of the immortal spirit within us. This is something that Taoists, and some Buddhists, and other spiritual groups have been practicing for years, the means of birthing the immortal spirit within. But that is for a later discussion. Here we will speak only of the birth of Christ as the Birth of Christ within ourselves. Without this second birth, we cannot understand, as Nicodemus did not understand, when Jesus spoke to him of heavenly things. We understand only physically. It is the phenomenal world that is of importance to us, because we recognize no other, except as some plausible heaven or hell that we go to after we die, a place outside the realm of science, and the realm of the known universe, but something created by some being outside of ourselves so that he could transfer us there according to either his whim, or his perception of our sainthood. I am sorry people, but it is a lie. As Paul said, spiritual things must be spiritually discerned. Also, as Jesus said, “That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of spirit is spirit.

But enough of this, you get the idea, an idea to be carried forward later.

“When Herod heard these things he was troubled.” Herod being a king is a symbol for the ego that rules us. When he hears that the Christ is due to be born, he immediately sets out to kill the Child. For his rulership is now in danger. The ego never willingly gives up its throne. Then Herod says, “…bring him to me, that I may come and worship.” The ego never can be truly honest, even with itself. It doesn’t stop at anything to maintain the kingdom it has inherited. In this case, the ego is even ordering the mass destruction of children, whatever it takes to terminate the one life of the one ruler that can terminate his rulership.

“Out of Egypt I have called my Son” The land of Egypt can have various metaphorical meanings in the Bible, but here one meaning is that Egypt represents the material, and/or, the dualistic world. The Son is called out of the world, into the “kingdom of heaven.” Into the spiritual realm where the understanding is there that the physical world is a mere illusion, and we can make of it what we will. The kingdom is where the spiritual realm takes us out of the realm of ego, and into the dimension of oneness, and the surrender to the will of God. (The one time positive thinking is at its most powerful is when we are positively thinking about the surrender to the will of God. “Not my will, but Thine.”) We are called out of bondage to the material, (The Israelites were slaves in Egypt) and into the freedom of the kingdom. Rulers and joint rulers with Christ.

“But when Herod was dead, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream…” When the ego dies, then and only then can we truly hear the call of the spirit. Only when the ego is dead can we understand and follow the will of the Lord. Our left and right brains unite and work together. Our male and female sides unite into one awesomely powerful individual. “Dividing the middle wall of partition between us”

One final point here, I wish to make today, this time from the Gospel of Luke. Luke Chapter two verse seven says, “And they laid him in a manger, for there was no room for them in the inn.” The inn is a symbol for our hearts. There is never room for Jesus in our hearts, because it is ruled by the ego. The ego has no wish to see the baby Jesus alive, unless, or course, the story is relegated to the material world, is a story that we follow at Christmas, and no other time of the year. As long as we see it as an event outside ourselves, in the manger, and thereby give it no power by which it can overthrow the ego’s control, then it is of minor import to the ego.

Can you see here how the real story corresponds, and compares to the stories we find in eastern religion, or philosophy, for the religion of the east is not really religion, it is practical and experiential.

Monday, December 18, 2006

We spoke for a moment a while back about the woman at the well, in regards to our discussion about the well, we did not discuss the story immediately previous to this in the book of John, the story of Nicodemus's secret meeting with Jesus. These two stories have some striking similarities, and some outright opposites. Nicodemus was male, The woman, obviously was female. Jesus approached the woman, Nicodemus approached Jesus. The meeting with the woman happened at about noon, the meeting with Nicodemus happened late at night. The woman was of the middle or lower class, Nicodemus was of the upper class. The woman became an open follower, Nicodemus followed Jesus only partially, and in secret.

The meeting with the woman happened in the day time, because the woman was ready to see the light, the meeting with Nicodemus happened at night because Nicodemus was not ready. Both individuals could see there was something special about Jesus. The woman responded. Nicodemus went back to the Pharisees. The story of the woman is the story of those that have been initiated into the mysteries of life, or the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but do not yet understand it. She was at the well because she was already drawing up the water of spiritual life, however, she was doing it in a rote and automatic, unthinking kind of way. Being a member of the middle or lower classes, she was following the dictates of her society, and was simply going along with the crowd. "Our people say worship here." No thought about the real meaning of it all, this is what our society believes, so I believe it too. "Our people have the true way, your people follow false doctrine." How do you know its true or false? "Our leaders tell us it is so." Well, our teachers tell us it is not." You see, the woman at the well recognized the "inner truth." She still may not have understood it all, but she took a step forward. This is like the I Ching people that think that the I Ching is nothing but an automatic response system that has no independent mind of its own. They use it for divination but do not realize the power that is involved to change lives. Jesus said to her, "in fact, you have had five husbands, and the one thou hast now is not thy husband." On one level this is merely an indicator of moral development based on the morality of the society at that place and time. But on a deeper level, the five husbands were five incarnations in which she had a spiritual teacher. The husband that she now had was not truly and rightly her teacher, her guru, her Christ, her Buddha. In running across Jesus, she is reunited with her true spiritual teacher.

Enter Nicodemus. Nicodemus comes at night because his mind is in darkness. In his case he is not just blindly following the dictates of his society, but is himself a ruler. He also comes because he is in fear of being seen by his peers, another story for another time. He comes at night because he is not ready to break away from his ruling class, and the power he maintains. He is willing to give Jesus an audience, but not willing to take everything to heart and make a change in his life. Jesus addresses him in a totally way. Where he challenged the woman to look beyond the facade of her societal teachings, he challenges Nicodemus to recognize the mistake he is making by putting to much import on his power and position. Nicodemus is a leader of the Jews, but Jesus queried, "You are a ruler of the jews and do not understand these things?" These things cannot be realized logically and intellectually, and all your pride in position and power will not help. Nicodemus was at a loss to understand these things, because, in contrast to the woman, he hadn't even had any prior incarnations with a true teacher. He understood only what was preached from the pulpit, not the spiritual things that are discerned through intuition and spiritual development, meditation, etc. He is like the person who takes everything in the I Ching in an all too literal way, and cannot see beyond to the spirit of the words of the text. Nicodemus was blinded to the truth by his power and his position, and remained in his post even after speaking with Jesus.

Friday, December 15, 2006

Note the text says "greathearted approach." Here the teachings of the Sage are given in an atmosphere of love. For the Sage is not receiving from us as much as we receive from him. It is that the Sage is to a certain extent being imposed upon, but rather than rebel, or show resentment, the Sage goodheartedly and willingly imparts of his knowledge that the world may prosper. The most we can do for the Sage in this context is show our respect and gratitude, which is not a real consolation. This is why hexagram four is given to show us our relationship to the Sage. It is one of earnestly seeking out, and imposing on him in a matter of utmost respect, for it is he that is giving to us. And in line two of hexagram four it is said that the Sage, "bears with the unprocessed in kindliness." It is the burden of the Sage that his children be taught the "kingd21om of heaven." But a burden that he gladly bears as long as he knows that it is going to produce fruit. And the commentary in hexagram four line five says, "... devoid of arrogance, who subordinates himself to his teacher will certainly be helped." In hexagram twenty, line four, the commenary says, "This describes a man who understands the secrets by which the kingdom is to flourish...should be honored, and allowed to act independently, and should not be used as a tool." It is the Sage, the I Ching, the Christ, the Buddha, who gives us the keys to "the kingdom of heaven." How much honor and adoration should we give him? Or better yet, accept his teachings gladly, mastical upon them, (hexagram 27) Bite through to them, (hexagram 21), and contemplate them, (hexagram 20) and I could go on, but time is short.

I have kind of gotten away from what I think was my original thesis in all my writings, that in every page, every text, the I Ching is talking about itself, but there will be much more written about this in time.

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Here is something sent to a friend that this friend thougnt was good and recommended I put it on my website. Then later on I will add a little bit to it.

There could be a number of reason for this, depending on the context. I suspect you got this in a reading for a specific question, if it was specifically for personal growth, the answer might be a little different.

Often, when only one line is changing, it isn't too difficult to see how the primary flows into the relational hexagram. Other times, however, it is not so easy, and I suspect that this is because in the original Chinese, the words conveyed multiple meanings. These multiple meanings cannot be so easily translated into English. Nevertheless, let us look into the context a little here and see.

One thing that is important to remember too, though, is that while the primary meanings of hexagrams may seem more positive or more negative, in their secondary meanings they may not be that way so much.

The Text says:

Goodhearted approach.Good fortune. No blame.

This looks pretty positive, and in terms of the lines alone, it is. Let's look at the commentary though.

In W/B the commentary states, "...may, under certain circumstances, decide to turn once more to the here and now. The sixth line normally refers to someone who has developed so much that they no longer need to partake in wordly affairs, but look, here the Sage is brought back. In other words he has to leave, so to speak, his heavenly abode. This is great good fortune for the world that he comes back to, and the individuals that would benefit from his teaching, but not necessarily so comfortable for him/her. He is, nevertheless, blameless for doing so.

And the meaning of the sixth line in general, the individual has gone too far, outside the context of the hexagram. Here, going outside the context of the hexagram, the Sage has gone too far away from the world. Hence, he/she cannot be of help unless he/she returns to help mankind. This is beneficial for mankind, but for him/her, it is merely without blame. This is a yin sixth line, so we can get an overall view of how to interpret it by looking at primarily hexagram two line six, because it is yin, and hexagram one line six for a secondary meaning. In line six of hexagram two it says, "Dragons fight in the meadow. " When the sixth line goes too far, it surpasses the ruler of the hexagram, which means conflict is inevitable. In ninteen line six, the conflict is between men who want his teaching, and he/she who wants to remain in the heavenly abode.

Do you see where I am going with this in terms of reduction? Let me know if it makes sense. In a nutshell, the sage reduces himself from his/her heavenly abode and returns to the lower, reducted world.

And a little bit of the response:

This was not about personal development, it was a bout a person Iknow, who is, a sage. And I just found out last night that hesustains himself by receiving alms. So the Yi may indeed just bereferring to that!

It is a connection so mundane I would not have thought of, that thesage must ask for alms.

I went to Clarity and looked up archives of this, and saw Sunpuerh'sreply, that this referred to a matter that comes quickly and leaves.

I also saw your comments, which are very good.

I really like what you say here, from this email:

One thing that is important to remember too, though, is that while the> primary meanings of hexagrams may seem more positive or more negative, in> their secondary meanings they may not be that way so much.

this is something i think about quite a bit lately. it seems hexagrammeanings come with densities, or tones, or aspects. some times it isvery saturated, sometimes very transparent. sometimes a flash,sometimes a light turned on in a room and left on all day and night.this has been the art of it, lately, to me, to determine the densityof the meaning.

I wonder that the 19 line 6 about my friend, simply refereed quiteplainly to his situation.

In other words he> has to leave, so to speak, his heavenly abode. This is great good fortune> for the world that he comes back to, and the individuals that would benefit> from his teaching, but not necessarily so comfortable for him/her. He is,> nevertheless, blameless for doing so.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

I am working on a new website that will be in conjunction with this one, but it will have info on the hexagrams in sequential order. There is nothing really out there yet, but the address will be: http://genessequentialiching.blogspot.com/

In hexagram sixty one we have an open heart. In hexagram 27 we have an open mind. We have to be careful what we fill it with, though. We fill the open heart only with the love and nurturance of those who's hearts correspond with, and have an affinity to our own. We fill our mind with more positive thoughts, joyful thoughts, and wonderous thoughts. If our hearts and minds are already filled, then there is no room for other hearts and minds that correspond to us to come in. We must open our hearts to love and our minds to the truth.

There are a few hexagrams that deal with different aspects of inner truth, not limited to the following"

1. Hexagram 48, the well, informs us of how we draw up inner truth.

2. Hexagram 5, Waiting. tells us how to prepare to receive inner truth.

3. Hexagram 50, The Cauldron, tells us how to apply inner truth, and foster able men in inner truth.

4. Hexagram 27, Noursihment, tells us to take in inner truth, and chew it, reflecting on it, and be aware of the real versus the false.

5. Hexagram 21 tells us how to bite through to inner truth, cutting to the bone, the kernel, of truth.

6. Hexagram 22 tells us of the beauty of inner truth.

7. Hexagram 61 tells us how inner truth spreads from one heart to another.

In a way, the entire I Ching is concerned with inner truth, and the disseminating of it from Sage to student.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

We cannot expect someone to follow us, or to help us in any meaningful way, without first establishing some kind of communication with them. But in order to establish communication, we must have something to offer. We must be in a place that offers us the means to associate with those we are meant to associate with. This is accomplished, once again, not by a conscious act, but by allowing the mind of the Sage, the superior man, or the Christ within to act within us and influence us, Then it can be said, again quoting from hexagram forty five line two, “There are secret forces at work, leading together those who belong together.” When we come into contact with those with whom we have an inner affinity, there is an inner communication established that goes beyond the rational ability to explain. When this happens, and if we are attuned to our natural character, it will happen, we come together for mutual goals, and we achieve mutual experiences, which is the basis for hexagram eight. Hexagram sixty one gives us the internal motivation for the “holding together” in hexagram eight. In hexagram eight, the basis for unity is mutual experiences. By going through mutual experiences people bond together. For some these may be emotional experiences, for others they may be going through trials and difficulties together, or mutually working on difficult tasks. These things apply in hexagram sixty one too, but it goes a little further, for when unity is based on mutual experiences once there is a breakup or a diffusion of the circumstances that brought them together the unity slowly begins to disintegrate, and new groups are formed. In hexagram sixty one the unity requires a little deeper basis. In hexagram sixty one the unity is more involved with a karmic or fateful attraction based on an inner recognition of belonging together. If this is the case, the holding together is likely to be much stronger. External circumstances will not be so likely to break the group apart. In the commentary on hexagram sixty one, the analogy is used of a pack of thieves who hold together for a common purpose. But the purpose is the only thing that holds them together. Once the job is done the group falls apart, they have come together for selfish purposes. This is true any time there are secret designs, for the motives are not pure. Often we might hold together with others for the ;purpose of accomplishing a certain task, but we don’t necessarily tell the others what the real purpose is. In this way we are just using each other. This is inimical to the concept of “inner truth.” When natural law brings people together it is because of a deep inner bond that does not require a personal motive.

The first line discusses this even further. It says, “If there are secret designs, it is disquieting.” The commentary tells us that this would deprive this person of their inner independence. The nature of “inner truth” is that we come together as a group, but only because those who come together belong together. We still maintain inner independence. Nor do we rely on this support of others. We must rely ultimately upon ourselves and our inner wisdom. That does not mean we do not accept the support and help of others. The acceptance of support and help comes naturally and is not tied in with a desperate need for their compliance with us.

Hi Michelle, and everyone else. I haven't delved into the nuclear hexagrams too much, I just haven't had the time, but I will digress here to make a couple of points, or at least throw something out there for discussion. Before I comment too much on that though, I would like to say that there are a number of hexagrams that give us specific information about unity, and about relationships. The following list is not all inclusive but will give some examples. Before I give examples though, understand that these hexagrams are not exclusively about unity or relationships, it is just a primary subject within them. Hexagram eight tells us that men find unity on the basis of common experiences. Hexagram thirteen tells us that in order to have true fellowship, in must get rid of distrust. Hexagram forty five tells us that in order to unite, the leader must be collected within himself. On another level this means that there has to be a central point around which the group unites. In terms of male female relationships, hexagram thirty one counsels us that good relationships are not based on lust or ulterior motives. Hexagram thirty two teaches us that to be able to continue a relationship, we must make sure that we are stable within ourselves, and that we "do not change direction." Hexagram fifty three advises us to not try to rush into a relationship as that would just scare the other person away, a relationship must be based on a coming together that each day takes another step in familiarizing ourselves with one another, getting to know one another. And hexagram fifty four counsels us that "we must remain constantly mindful of the end." In doing so ones relationships do not get shipwrecked by the inevitable forces of life that tend to tear people apart.

Hexagram sixty one also involves unity, but here the emphasis in not on male female relationsips, although that applies here too, but on the natural law of inner attraction that brings together those of like kind. Now this applies to male female relationships as well, but the idea here is the bringing together of those that belong together for any given purpose. One can look at hexagram fifty nine for further example of this. In hexagram fifty nine, disparate elements are dissolved to make way for elements that belong together. This is natural law, and is beyond the pale of conscious control.

All of that being said, back to the nuclear hexagram, twenty seven, we have the concept of nourishment. Now there are a number of hexagrams that counsel specifically on nourishment as well, the ones first coming to mind are hexagram five, which in essence counsels us to wait for the nourishment of heaven, (that which naturally befalls us), hexagram twenty seven, which counsels us to pay attention to where we receive our nourishment, and what kind of nourishment we are wanting to receive, hexagram forty eight, which counsels us to draw from the deep well, of our inner self, and hexagram fifty, which counsels us to nourish those who help us with the fostering of growth. An oversimplification, and perhaps I have not used the best wording, but you get the idea. Anyway, back to the nuclear hexagram, in the process of bringing those together who belong together, there is perforce an element of nourishment in the sense that those who are mutually and naturally attracted to each other, will be mutually responsive to the needs of each other. But in order to be responsive naturally to the needs of each other, there must be an emptiness of heart, open to the other person. Unless there is an emptiness, or openness ofr heart, we become somewhat like the person in hexagram thirteen, line three, where the fellowship has changed to mistrust. And in the latter line, it can be readily seen that the one who mistrusts, becomes untrustworthy. The nuclear of hexagram twenty seven is hexagram two. In hexagram two the Sage, spirit, the I Ching counsels us to be receptive. Receptivity and devotion are two big keywords for hexagram two. The more we have "like kind" coming together, the more natural it is to trust and be trusted. When like kind comes together, there is mutual trust and mutual receptivity. Back to the initial nuclear, hexagram twenty seven, we look at the two trigrams, (which is more the way I look at nuclears, when I do) we have below movement, and above rest. Therefore we have the whole cycle, and Wilhelm Baynes, in the commentary in book three says about the hexagram as a whole, and then a word about the nuclear, "The eldest and the youngest daughter are together here in their proper positions, (like attracting like) hence mutual trust is not disturbed. The attributes of the trigrams are well harmonized. Gentleness is above, joyousness below, and the nuclear trigrams are rest and movement. Moreover, the entire structure of the hexagram is very harmonious and symetrical, the yielding lines are within, and the firm without." With the eldest daughter with the youngest daughter, we have like attracting like, and in the nuclear, with the eldest son and the youngest son, we have like attracting like, and in the nuclear nuclear hexagram, we have yin and yin, like attracting like. The emptiness of the central two lines shows the emptiness and receptivity of a heart free of prejudices. Hexagram twenty seven has a similar structure with yielding within, and firmness without.

Monday, December 11, 2006

Upon reading the judgment, we also find there are at least three point regarding this hexagram which we need to pay attention to.

The Judgment itself is as follows:

Inner Truth. Pigs and fishes.Good fortuneIt furthers one to cross the great water.Perseverance furthers.

And in the commentary we find at least these three points.

1. It is necessary to find the right way to approach2. It is necessary to establish communication.3. In developing mutual confidence we can undertake extreme difficulties.

We cannot influence others, nor even approach them, if our method is not agreeable to them. The text here once again speaks of ridding oneself of prejudice. It can be said again and further that a prejudice keeps us from seeing the truth. Prejudices can be preconceived ideas that we have formulated that are probably operating beneath the level of full consciousness. We have prejudices against another if we do not see them as a fully functioning child of the universe no different and not separate from ourselves. We are functioning with prejudices when we look upon another as lesser, weaker, or less spiritual than ourselves. We have prejudices against another when we judge them, when we focus upon their wrongdoings, upon their idiosyncrasies, All these things, while not consciously known by the person we are focusing upon, will nevertheless, play havoc unconsciously, with the person we are trying to influence. And here is a very special, a very pertinent, and a very important point. What we are consciously aware of is only a small portion of what actually exists. Influence works silently, works secretively, and is not subject, normally, to conscious control. I want to emphasize this point, because it is pertinent to most, if not all, of our discussion of the I Ching, or any sacred scripture. There are things going on beyond the level of conscious control. But the Chuang Tzu, or superior man, in the I Ching, or the man who has put on Christ, in the New Testament, or the Atman, or the Buddha, is one who has integrated consciousness with subconsciousness, and is a fully aware, fully awakened individual.

In finding the right way of approach, we must accept others on their own terms. We must accept them as they are. We must recognize their right of independence, and, as hexagram forty says, we must “pardon mistakes, and forgive misdeeds.” When we are required to judge, it should be only a discernment, without the emotional content, otherwise we unwittingly injure on an unconscious level. These judgments and discernments, however, should be a quickly passing matter. Hexagram fifty six tells us that “penalties (judgments) should be a quickly passing matter, and must not be dragged out indefinitely.” Hexagram six tells us that inner conflicts, (negative thoughts about another) inevitably bring about conflict, in one form or another. It also says here that “to avoid it, therefore, everything must be taken carefully into consideration in the beginning. It is therefore wise for the superior man to have an understanding of the nature of human follies, (hexagram four) and take them into consideration, as hexagram four line two tells us, “To bear with fools (the immature) in kindliness brings good fortune.” And in hexagram eleven, line two, “Bearing with the uncultured in gentleness.” We cannot have a good influence on others unless we have an equitable understanding of their nature. And finally, the image in hexagram sixty one tells us that the superior person “delays executions.” When we feel attacked, our nature, our tendency is to attack back. We find ourselves wanting to retaliate, to justify and vindicate ourselves. This is tantamount to creating an “execution.” We execute the person for their behavior. We vilify them and reproach them for their behavior. Instead, the superior man is “slow to wrath,” Much more could be said about this, but this is a dialogue, a discussion, within itself and will be saved for a later time, how much later, I do not know. The discussions of the I Ching are infinite in possibilities.

The text goes on to tell us that after having rid ourselves of prejudices, judgments, and condemnations of another, one must let the psyche of another act on oneself without restraint. This means one must be open to and uncritical of the psyche of another. It is only by being open ourselves that we can expect others to be open to us. We cannot receive unless we are receptive. We cannot expect another to be open if we are closed.

As this is starting to get long, I will follow up with the second two points shortly.

Saturday, December 09, 2006

In hexagram sixty one there are three paragraphs in the commentary before the judgment is reached. From these paragraphs we can deduce at least three discussion points. They are as follows:

1. The hexagram counsels us to be “open to the truth.”2. The hexagram concerns itself with establishing a mutual confidence.3. The hexagram counsels that what is hidden within can be activated by that which is without, and vice versa.

In order to be open to the truth the heart must be free of prejudice. Our biases and our prejudices are often not consciously noticed by ourselves however. Often our thinking, our attitudes, and our belief systems are biased by the things we learned growing up. We learned something in school. Our parents, our teachers, our schools taught us something, and later in life, when things come along that question those beliefs, we discount it because we are supposedly educated beings, smarter than our more naturalistic ancient forebearers and smarter than those with less education in the world. It certainly behooves us to look more deeply into our belief system, and to eliminate prejudices that prevent us from opening up to a greater and deeper truth within ourselves.

In order to make perfect any undertaking, there has to be a mutual trust and confidence among members of the team. This mutual confidence grows out of a respect and an honoring of each member of the team, and through mutual effort one comes to trust more greatly. The upper trigram in hexagram sixty one is Sun which normally involves a mandate from a superior. It has to do with commands and orders. The upper trigram gives orders, and the lower trigram, tui, receives the orders in a spirit of joyousness. In the same way, in maintain, and accessing inner truth, we joyously receive the commands of the “higher self.” Commands here could be just as well equated with “inner truth”

The third point depicted in the commentary on this hexagram is that something within is “quickened” by something from without. In essence, yang is without, and yin is within. Here, the yin energy, is quickened, and made alive by the outer yang essence. But the key here is that this energy responds to its opposite form of energy only when there is an inner relationship. A better way of stating this can be found in hexagram forty five line two, where it is stated, “There are secret forces at work, leading together those who belong together. Line two of hexagram sixty one gives greater detail on this theme, and we will get into that later. Suffice it to say for now, that the old saying really is true, that “birds of a feather flock together.” For, as a mother crane calls in the shade, its young, and only its young, here her call, and respond to it.

There are inner forces at work, and we deny this reality only at our own greatest peril. To work with it is blessed, to scoff at such a concept is a form of arrogance that can bring us our downfall. Hexagram sixty one tells us that people and situations that belong together, will come together based on an inner, and a spiritual law of mutual attraction, and we will be getting into that in greater depth, later on.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

At one time I had a very significant write up on hexagram sixty one which I intended to submit to the group at onlineclarity.co.uk, and excellent website for material by the way, but I never submitted it. And could I ever find it again or reproduce it? Probably not. Often ideas come to intuitively, but I ever do something with them, or eventually they will be lost. I hope, however, to produce something approaching the depth of what I had written then, although it will certainly come up somewhat short. At the same time, some of my work, although not what I had originally intended for onlineclarity on hexagram sixty one, is stimulated or edged upon, influenced by, the work of Carol Anthony. It is only the impetus though, and not the totality of her work that has influenced me. Often her meanings of the lines leaves me somewhat cold, not that they aren’t correct, they are simply correct for her and not for me. Also, since this is my website, and not hers, I must be careful to no more than quote her when appropriate, so as not to plagiarize her work. She does have a few things to say about hexagram sixty one that I like, so I quote, “Pigs and fishes is a metaphor for the totally of our physical senses.” We must make something clear here. The I Ching is concerned about that which goes beyond mere physical senses, into the realm of the unseen. It is this unseen where inner truth lies, And in the final analysis, this inner truth is concerned with the reality that the physical is only an illusion created on the spiritual plane.

Here is something that just now dawned on me, and I am not proud that it took so long to realize this deep truth, and it is a sudden and intuitive aha. This is not Carol Anthony’s work, unless it exists somewhere in her work that I haven’t read yet, but the sudden revelation is this, one possible meaning of “crossing the great water,” is going from the physical to the spiritual. We must take a leap, one could call it a leap of faith, but it is an intuitive yet rational leap of faith that takes us to the other shore. We must, so to speak, enter into the “kingdom of heaven.” The kingdom of heaven is a metaphor for taking that quantum leap into an understanding that life is what we make it. It is what we make it in the sense that our beliefs about the nature of reality actually create the reality we experience. Don’t think so? Take another look at quantum physics, and what the physicists are coming to realize about the nature of reality. So we take a quantum leap from “pigs and fishes” to “inner truth.” Quoting again from Carol Anthony, because I think this is very appropriate, “…decisions made on the external appearance of a situation create a long chain of negative consequences that include continuing conflict, entanglements, injustices, and a litany of further misunderstandings.” When we judge merely from the external appearance of a matter, we are not judging from a standpoint of “inner truth.” Nor are we seeing the whole picture because the “spiritual” side of it, in other words, the nonphysical plane, is ruled out. In regards to this matter, in one sense, the conscious mind can be compared to pigs and fishes because it sees only the rational side of occurrences. Inner truth comes from the unconscious, from the deeper strata of our being that we do not see, recognize normally, or feel. It is there but we lack conscious awareness of it.

The very first line of the Wilhelm Baynes commentary on hexagram sixty one carries on this theme. “The wind blows over the lake and stirs the surface of the water. Thus visible effects of the invisible manifest themselves.” It is, or should be, a truism that the physical world is simply, nothing less, nothing more, than a mirror image of the spiritual world. By spiritual, I mean in essence, a higher dimensional, or as Richard Hoagland says, hyperdimensional, aspect of the physical. See www.enterprisemission.com. And you do have to put the www in there. But I call attention to this website because Richard Hoagland has a very interesting, and impressive, theory of hyperdimensional physics. Anyway, moving along, we see how the water, visible, is stirred by the wind, invisible. The same can be said for the superior man in understanding, and contemplating, the minds of men, for there is a dimension of mind there, beyond the conscious that exerts influence on others. We will get into that more upon discussing the lines. More on this later.

Monday, December 04, 2006

Line two in hexagram two has a very deep meaning, I believe, and I am going to have to give this a lot of thought, I am not sure that I have a very deep understanding of it yet. What I do understand, I will add to my comments as time goes on. The thing that I feel I don't have a deep enough understanding of yet in particular is the part of the commentary that says, "The receptive accommodates itself to the qualities of the Creative and makes them its own." How does it do this? I am not quite sure.

I might say, however, that hexagram one. being yang, is the incentive, the spiritual, and the creative. Hexagram two, being yin, is the manifestation, the physical, (which has its own kind of spirituality, don't get me wrong) and the receptive. It is also very devoted. It is this receptive quality that allows for the manifestation. Yang is thought, and it is the reception of the thought, that makes the physical possible. If yang is the energy, then yin is the manifestation of the work that that energy does.

Since yin is only receptive, then it needs no purpose of its own, By being receptive to the thought of the creative, or that creative yang energy called the dragon, it creates what is needed and necessary without taking any special thought of its own. The commentary says, "Therefore, the Receptive has no need of a special purpose of its own, nor any effort; yet everything turns out as it should.

The yang is incentive, the yin is manifestation. Since this is true, it might be a good time to take a look at Stephen Karcher's work where he shows that each odd numbered hexagram shows the incentive, and each even numbered hexagram shows the manifestation. He goes even further to say that the first line of the odd hexagram is the incentive for the last line of the next even nred hexagram, the second is the incentive for the fifth, the third for the fourth, and so on up the ladder. There seems to be a great deal of evidence that Mr. Karcher has a valid point here. Since time is lacking, just a very short simple example of this. In hexagram nine line six, the incentive, it says, "The rain comes, and there is rest." Line one of hexagram ten says, "Simple progress without blame." In hexagram nine it says, "...cumulation of small effects..." It is through the accumulation of small things that we make progress.(See hexagram 46) This is a superficial example, but I am sure you can find many examples of this yourself as you look at it.

Saturday, December 02, 2006

We began a discussion earlier about how the lines in hexagram one and two are the prototype for all the lines that follow. In the first line of hexagram one, being a time hexagram, and a time line, we saw that any action was premature, and there were possibly unseen circumstances that could come back and bite one. In hexagram two line one we saw that in the early stages, one would need to watch for and prevent decay. We also saw the existence of space with the hoarfrost on the ground.

Now, in line two, hexagram onewe see that “the dragon appears in the field.” Here, in hexagram one, we have a time element where the dragon appears, and as line two is properly a yin line, we see space in the sense that the dragon appears, “in the field.” In each trigram there is a central line. As the Chinese revered the “middle way,” the second and fifth lines are usually considered to be the trigram ruler. Line five being in the upper trigram is the hexagram ruler. There are exceptions to this, and in fact, line two in hexagram two is considered the ruler. More on this a little later. Therefore, line two is generally considered somewhat favorable, and line five even more favorable. Since line two, however, is in the lower trigram here, the line is still not the high point of the hexagram.

The important factor is that the dragon appears in the field. The movement has not reached its high point, but it is at its beginning stages. Nevertheless, the action is no longer hidden. The text says, “as yet he has no commanding position, but is still with his peers.” The second line, when yang, can often refer to the “general” in the field. He has not yet established himself politically, but has the option to prove himself militarily. When we get this line there is often an element of opportunity. The line tells us however, that if we wish to be “the superior man,” we are going to have to distinguish ourselves with our “seriousness of purpose.:”

In hexagram forty eight line two we can see some of these same themes. Whereas in line one, no one drinks from the mud of the well, for the well is not yet ready, in line two, the water is ready to be drawn up, (the dragon appears in the field,) but it is not being used for the proper purposes. As yet, the well “has no commanding position.” It appears in the field, but it is not yet being properly used. We must have “seriousness of purpose” to find out how to use the well properly. In hexagrams with a yang line two, as a rule, look for this “preparation theme.”